I was having a chat with DeanFan84 today and he commented that the return of Joe Lieberman to DC after having been pounded by the voters of CT in the Democratic primary was not going to be a warm and fuzzy moment. Joe is notoriously thin-skinned, and how is he going to be greeted? DeanFan84 and I saw CT Attorney General Richard Blumental flee the scene of the AFL-CIO picnic six weeks ago to avoid being seen with Joe (who was only 5 minutes away). The incumbency protection racket notwithstanding, politicians are politicians and Joe is publicly toxic. How is he going to feel when people openly shun him? People who are taking their cues from Hillary Clinton and her senior advisor, Howard Wolfson:

Gerstein touted Lieberman as an experienced lawmaker who is willing to put politics aside to get things accomplished. He went on to question the alliance between Lamont and Clinton, who, like Lieberman, voted to authorize the war.

"So, we’ll be curious to see whether Ned Lamont attacks Hillary Clinton’s record the way he has distorted Joe Lieberman’s," Gerstein said. "We suspect he won’t, which just goes to show that so much of what he is doing is political opportunism and not principle."

Clinton and Lamont’s campaigns both fired back at Lieberman’s campaign for characterizing them as using playbook tactics.

"Better than reading from the Bush-Cheney talking points," Wolfson said, in a dig at Lieberman’s perceived closeness with top Republicans on the war.

"We don’t apologize for being proud Democrats," Wolfson said.

Oh lordy. Lieberman is gonna need a fist full o’benzos to see this one through to the end.

Oh, Jane, how is going to get that money?

Wolfson is Hillary's man, he does the heavy lifting. If Gerstein would like to work in politics, fucking with Wolfson is not advised. I think that the dog whistle is at high pitch. If you want Hillary to be president, giving money to Lieberman is ill advised.

The next act is her raising money for him in Manhattan. Once that happens, Joe might want to find a graceful exit.